It’s almost as if I’m drawn to her. I move closer to the stage so I can get a better view of her. My eye is drawn once again to her long red hair, which she wears tied back. If I look close enough, I can see a soft smattering of freckles on her lovely face. Hazel eyes look nervously out over the crowd. They don’t stop on one person, certainly not me. I bet she is quiet or shy. She looks the type.
I pay close attention as the hostess says, “This young lady is auctioning off a date tonight.”
I’m a little disappointed that that’s all she’s offering. I think someone else groans in the audience. But right away, people start bidding. I’m surprised by this. I can tell the woman on the stage is too. I’m even more shocked when my own hand flies up to be included in the bids.
The numbers increase, and soon it’s just me and a couple of the wealthiest men here. I don’t know what it is about this woman, but I can’t stop myself. Maybe it’s her appearance or the fact that she seems so different from the other women here, but something won’t let me quit.
She’s mine.
I watch as she looks out at those of us who are left bidding. She keeps looking at me, then away. Eventually we lock eyes. I can see her gasp softly on stage. My heart starts to pound deep within my chest. I don’t know what’s come over me. All I know is that I want her to be mine and I will stop at nothing to have her.
Her eyes remain on me as I raise my paddle. “Thirty thousand.” I say in as calm a voice as I can. I hear several people gasp loudly. The men I was bidding against shake their heads and mutter. The redhead on stage stares at me in shock, so does the hostess. Eventually the hostess recovers herself and asks the crowd, “Do we have any other bids?” After a few seconds of head shaking she announces, “Going once…going twice…sold!”
I just continue to stare at the redhead. Eventually she looks away and goes to the hostess to await further instructions. I put my paddle away, satisfied. I’m done bidding for the night. I accomplished one part of my goal tonight. I’ll have to wait until later to see if I can make the rest happen.
Tim has an arm around a girl as he walks over to me. “Dude, that was insane. What were you thinking?” he asks, appalled.
I shrug at him. “I honestly don’t know,” I admit, “There’s just something about her.”
He shakes his head in disbelief. “Man, when you want something you really go after it,” he marvels.
I laugh a little, “True, but you already knew that about me. Excuse me a moment.”
He nods and goes back to cuddling his date. I turn and look for the hostess. I need to pay my bid. I also keep an eye out for the redhead. I’m eager to get better acquainted with her. I see them standing together across the room. The hostess looks up at me, so I immediately walk over.
“I believe I owe you something,” I remark.
The hostess smiles warmly as I pay her. “It was a pleasure doing business. You two have fun!” she winks at us before walking away.
The redhead stands alone in front of me. She glances up at me, then away quickly. I can tell that she is definitely nervous. I look around and try to think of something to say. I don’t want to frighten her. “Hello,” I croak out finally.
“Hi.”
Her voice is very soft. I think was right about her being shy.
She doesn’t say anything else, she just keeps looking at me. I try smiling at her. She actually blushes a little before smiling back. That is adorable. I wasn’t expecting that. I’m actually starting to feel glad that I came tonight. Crazy, I know.
Chapter 6
Lorelai
I seriously can’t believe my luck. I wasn’t even planning on going through with the auction, but I’m so glad I did. I spent a lot of time just watching and hesitating.
I didn’t think I’d have the courage to actually get up there and participate. But when I saw how much the girls around me were earning…I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to save the shop.
But I became even more nervous when the hostess finally led me up on stage. I kept reminding myself that all I was selling was a date, but being put on display in front of a room full of men made me nervous, all the same.
The moment I laid eyes on this guy, though? Well, for a moment I was almost sorry I was only selling a date. He was devilishly handsome, the kind of flawless good looks that seem almost too perfect to exist off of a movie screen.